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Reach for the Heavens in 2011

“The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.” — Juma Ikangaa

Hello and Happy New Year! This is already a very exciting time for me since 2011 will mark the first year, where I am both coaching and training for triathlon (I am now fully integrated!). It’s good to be back. I’ll certainly continue to hit some ultra-runs this year but my primary focus is on all things tri-sport.

Over the last month, in particular, I’ve been working both mindfully and diligently to further refine my coaching systems in order increase the overall effectiveness of my coaching process. The early feedback now in from a few athletes is that they like what they see. That’s good. It’s only gonna get better.

So, let’s look at 2011 in a very specific way. Imagine, if you will, that A-priority event, which you have out there on the horizon, as a big ol’ iceberg. Yeah, like the one the Titanic bumped into. That’s you. Let the iceberg serve as a powerful analogy of your preparation and successful execution of a great race this year, the one that finally lives up to your expectations of yourself. That part sticking out of the water? Yeah, that towering part, that’s your race; your peak performance, the very manifestation of the best your body can give, which is not to say it can’t give even more next year. How far out of the water an iceberg juts is a function of how much of the berg’s mass resides under the water. Likewise, how much quality training we can absorb will determine how high up the results we’ll climb on race-day. So, it’s the preparation that really matters, isn’t it? Think about it. What people don’t see is how much really went into our preparation; how committed we really are. That’s the great thing about endurance sports racing that’s kept me coming back for years: you reap what you sow. It’s an absolute direct proportion: you get out what you put in. And when I put in a lot of excuses, I put in a lot of reasons for failing.

This year, it’s all about hitting the number of sessions you and I have established in our typical weeks. Hitting our sessions consistently reflects how committed we truly are to our progress as athletes. If we’re having trouble hitting all of our sessions, then we need to go back to our Typical Week and adjust it so that our training is truly in harmony with our lives. Keep in mind that grand cliche: quality over quantity. Balanced living yields quality training, which allows us to more accurately hit our performance targets.

Finally, because I can only communicate so much over the phone, I shot this 11min video way too late last night in an attempt to model for you my process of conducting a workout (in this case, a recent long run), logging the workout in Workout Log, and generating some baseline data on my Point Positive Google Doc. Please check it out. And forgive me for the poor video quality. I shot this with my phone! Apologies in advance. Just keep in mind that because I feel the content is meaningful, I’m willing to risk embarrassment for the sake of your continuing education as endurance athletes. I really do hope the video helps you further refine your own recording/reporting process. Thanks and Point Positive! >>> 😀

Good luck with your training and racing this year. Let’s work to be the most consistent we’ve ever been. Cheers!